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Ballots in Faribault County were printed incorrectly identifying the candidates’ parties in the race for District 23A representative.

The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office issued a statement Friday night that said the office was aware of the ballot error and said that 17 ballots were issued Friday with the error.

County officials discovered the misprint earlier in the day and will pursue corrective action through the courts, including instructions for voters who already received and returned an incorrect ballot to ensure their vote is counted correctly.

The statement indicated the error was limited only to ballots issued by Faribault County. The ballots issued in Freeborn, Steele and Waseca counties, which are also included in District 23A, are correct.

“The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State does not prepare ballots for counties,” the statement said. “Each of Minnesota’s 87 counties are responsible for preparing ballots in collaboration with their ballot programming and printing vendors, including the sample ballots posted to mnvotes.gov.”

The Secretary of State is responsible for providing a list of certified candidate names to all counties, and it stated it provided that list, along with party affiliation, accurately and on time.

The office also provided extra training this year to all counties on how to proof ballots to ensure that errors like this are not missed in the proofing process.

“In every election, despite the best efforts of our hard-working county election officials, mistakes happen,” the statement said. “Our office is thankful for the swift action of Faribault County officials after learning of the error and is committed to partnering with them where appropriate to ensure this mistake is remedied for all impacted voters as soon as possible.”

District 23A Rep. Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, said in a press release Friday afternoon she was alerted to the problem after a Faribault County supporter contacted her asking when she became a Democrat.

The Republican supporter had cast his ballot Friday morning and voted for the Republican state representative candidate that was inaccurately listed on his ballot — her Democratic opponent, Joe Staloch. The Republican National Committee also received reports of the error.

“On the heels of the news that more than 1,000 non-citizens were put onto Minnesota’s new automatic voter registration system, Faribault County voters in House District 23A are now being handed ballots that have messed up my party affiliation,” Bennett said in the release. “It is yet another example of a broken government that shows us more and more that it is rarely working for the people. Faribault County residents should know that I have not switched political parties, and I have always been, and will continue to be, a Republican who will fight for your rights and freedoms.”